Family |
Asparagaceae
Puschkinia scilloides
Adam
Puschkinia scilloides Adams
First published in Nova Acta Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. Hist. Acad. 14: 164 (1805).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 246, Pl. LXXVIII, 2; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Bulbous perennial with a rounded bulb in brown tunics and a flowering stem 10–30 cm tall.
Leaves: Two basal, linear-lanceolate leaves, about as tall as the stem.
Inflorescence & flowers: Short raceme usually bearing 1–6 flowers, sometimes 10–15, on short stalks. The pale bluish-white flowers have a bright blue stripe along each segment. The perianth is about 1 cm long, united below into a bell-shaped tube; its whitish crown has six divided lobes bearing very short staminal filaments.
Fruit: Globose capsule with papery walls.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering April–June.
Habitat & elevation: Mountain and alpine ground.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Jourd Tannourine, Hasroun, Cedars pass, Ehden–Sir, Jabal Barouk, Khan Sannine, Ehden, Zahle pass, Cedars–Foumm el Mizhab, above Faraya, Laqlouq, Caracol Metiouhane, Jabal Kneisse, Sannine summit and Tannourine.
Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye.
Introduced into: Altay, Austria, Czechia-Slovakia, Germany, South European Russia.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde describes the Lebanese plants as Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica (Zucc.) Boiss., also called Puschkinia libanotica Zucc. Kew places both names in synonymy under Puschkinia scilloides subsp. scilloides. Mouterde's restriction of that local variety to Lebanon does not establish endemism of the accepted species.